Connecticut western news., 1887-06-29
OFF WITH HIS HEAD."
Inter view with Chinese High
 Executioners in Canton.
Brutal and Repulsive Forms of Oriental
 Punishment.

During our wandcrings in Canton, says writer in the Pall Mall Ga- zcttc, our ears wcrc assaicd with the Cathay synonym of the Egyptian bak- sccsh cry, till the caverns of our brains rcsounded and echoed with it. 'Cum- shaw! cumshaw!" yclled immature pos sessors of pig tails, and mature possessors echoed the sound wherever we went. When the youngsters requests were not complied with, they after little invari- ably changed their cry to "Fanquai! farquai!' Gorcign devil, foreign deviD. We marched into the magisterial yanluu 10 the accompaniment of tho cumshaw tune. Here we were shown the instru- ments whereby bamboo chow chow is given to the nadal callosities of the wicked, also ratans and short b.u1geons for shaping the faces of untruthful wit ncsses, thumb-screws and racks for exactlng confessions (no criminal can be executed according to the laws of China until ho has confessed his crime), canquls, species of collar which for largencss and uncomfortab.encss even outstrip the mashers', and which arc rectangular planes of wood with neck and hand holes. The gloomy, small dcpository-room of these torture implements wo thought to be'a fair representation of what European m.- d;eval chamber of '.justicc" has been.
 We were next taken in our sedan chairs through an overcrowdcd busy part of tho city to the execution ground, passing on our way tho new Roman Catholic cathedral, whosc gigantic spires pierce the clouds. The execution ground we found to be small enclosed rectangular space, about fifteen yards by fifty, entered by gate. On the right on entering ran q row of small squalid houses, the habitations of pot ters whose rough, unbaked work lay all about on the ground, drying in tho sun, but we were informed that it was cleared away whenever an execution was about to take place. Facing the potters' houses was a high wall. at whose baso and leaning against it were some large crooks, all of which had their mouths earthcd over except one. Here our guide intro- duccd us to two poorly dressed China men, whom VIC noticed gambling at a fan tan table near the gate on our arri- val. One, a big, bru.lsh-looking fell low with villainou, cast in one of his eyes, was the head exccutioner, and the other two, who were smallish men, were his assistants. Through our guide we told the head executioncr that we wished to see tho instruments of his calling, and thereon he produced short, very heavy o-handed sword and long knife. The following conversation was carried on between us and this "boss" through the medium of our guide:
 "How do you use this sword2 Where is the b!ock2'
 "We don't use block. What we do is to mako the prisoners kneel down in two rows facing one another, and bend ing their heads down. Then I take the sword, and chop, chop, one on each side, and the heads fall off; so on till they're all done, as you'd switch the tops of green weeds with your walking-stick."
 ''But you don't always chop head off with one blow2"
 "Always."
 'What is the knife for2''
 ''For tho ling che, or death by many cuts. We tie tho culprit who is con- demncd to this death to that cross there (pointing to two rough unbarkcd sticks roughly crosscd), and we begin by cut ting off the oyelids, ears, nose, and so on, ending by sticking the knife into the heart. The cuts vary in number from eight to hundred aud twenty, according to the heinousness of the culprit's crimes. !"
 'What class of criminals arc condemned to the ling che2"
 '.Parricides, matricides and women who have killed and mutilated their husbands form the majority"
 '.Do the executions inter re with y our appetite and sleeps"~
 The three cxecutioners grinnod sar- donically at this question, so we asked:
 "How many persons have you execut- ed in a day7"
 'I have chopped twenty heads off myself in two minutes. See that dark looking place on the ground over there that's caused by the blood of the last batch we had."
 "What is done with the bodies2'
 ''The friends take the bodies away. but we keep tho heads in the crooks over by the wall there, and when we have large number which ar, no longer recognizable we bury them; would you like to see some of the heads2"
 We declined, and ono of my compan- ions began to grow pale and complain of not feeling well, so we ordered tho guide to lead us away.
 "Gentlcmen, give twenty cents each, cumshaw, to the cxecutioners, said the guide, which we gladly did to escape from the staring of the ''boss' butchers swivel eye; and so ended our interview with these High Executioners of the Gra0t GhineSa Ennr,0
 What He Caught.
 'Fishing y cstcrday, eha" quericd Wig Wur.